Christopher Clark
Special Guest
I met Gary Gygax when I was 15 at one of their ‘mini-Gen Cons’ at the Horticultural center. He was running a miniatures game of Chainmail (the fantasy supplement) that I played in. We immediately hit it off., so much so that I started running events at Gen Con the very next year. Gary and I saw each other at these conventions, and he always remembered me. He had Harold Johnson offer me a job at TSR in 1979, (which I refused, it was full time and I wanted to finish high school), and we stayed in touch over the years. After we started the Inner City Company, he always made sure that I got an invite to the “TSR Party” at Gen Con, and I got to know several of the crew that way.
When the ‘TSR crash’ hit in 1995-1996, and there was zero production of material for the 2nd Edition, I decided to start writing generic adventures that might fill that void, and I thought I would call Gary and see if he was interested in developing these adventures with me (for a paycheck). I don’t know if Gary was desperate, or just liked me that much, but he agreed. He and I wrote “A Challenge of Arm’s” and “The Ritual of the Golden Eyes with Gary doing these as a ‘work for hire’ developer and writer (which is why I think perhaps he liked me, he could have gotten work anywhere) and we got to know one another and became fast friends. When he could find no investors to underwrite the Lejendary Adventure, he called me, asked if I would form a company with him, and Hekaforge Productions, a Limited Partnership, was born.
Then we REALLY started spending a lot of time together.
By the time 2006 rolled around, my ability to continue pushing the Lejendary line forward had about played its part so I suggested to Gary that we find an ‘angel’ and I approached the Troll Lords with the Lejendary License on Gary’s behalf (at the GAMA trade show that year). Gary then cut his own deal with them; we ended HFP, and were good friends up until his death. He and I still wrote a few things together, but mostly along the lines of,” hey could you take a look and give me your $0.02” rather than anything official. Most of the time we just traded e-mails every other day or so.
From the age of 15 until the day he passed from this Earth, Gary taught me a lot: about writing, design, humor, and frankly, life. I miss him, but carry those lessons with me to this day.
"If you'd like to see what I have been up to since, check out the new Lance RPG at our booth." Christopher was also a special guest at EGG Con I!
When the ‘TSR crash’ hit in 1995-1996, and there was zero production of material for the 2nd Edition, I decided to start writing generic adventures that might fill that void, and I thought I would call Gary and see if he was interested in developing these adventures with me (for a paycheck). I don’t know if Gary was desperate, or just liked me that much, but he agreed. He and I wrote “A Challenge of Arm’s” and “The Ritual of the Golden Eyes with Gary doing these as a ‘work for hire’ developer and writer (which is why I think perhaps he liked me, he could have gotten work anywhere) and we got to know one another and became fast friends. When he could find no investors to underwrite the Lejendary Adventure, he called me, asked if I would form a company with him, and Hekaforge Productions, a Limited Partnership, was born.
Then we REALLY started spending a lot of time together.
By the time 2006 rolled around, my ability to continue pushing the Lejendary line forward had about played its part so I suggested to Gary that we find an ‘angel’ and I approached the Troll Lords with the Lejendary License on Gary’s behalf (at the GAMA trade show that year). Gary then cut his own deal with them; we ended HFP, and were good friends up until his death. He and I still wrote a few things together, but mostly along the lines of,” hey could you take a look and give me your $0.02” rather than anything official. Most of the time we just traded e-mails every other day or so.
From the age of 15 until the day he passed from this Earth, Gary taught me a lot: about writing, design, humor, and frankly, life. I miss him, but carry those lessons with me to this day.
"If you'd like to see what I have been up to since, check out the new Lance RPG at our booth." Christopher was also a special guest at EGG Con I!